“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:3-4 (Context: Colossians 3:1-17)
Here Paul gives us one of the central paradoxes of the Christian faith. How can I die and have life? Elsewhere Paul writes that he has been crucified with Christ, and yet nevertheless he still lives. Jesus prophecies much the same in Luke 21 – some believers will be killed before the destruction of the temple, but they won’t perish. How could they be killed, but not perish?
Part of the solution to the paradox is understanding that in salvation, we find ourselves united with Christ in such a foundational way that our lives are contained entirely in him. Our lives are not contained in our success or our emotional well-being or our popularity or anything else which can suffer loss. Because our lives are “hidden with Christ,” nothing can change around us that affects our true value and worth. This is why Paul tells us in Romans 8 that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Seek to understand the security of knowing that your life is hidden with Christ in God.
James Manley
James was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church at Servants this past September. He frequently preaches and acts as celebrant at both our services; but he’s not just a priest, he’s also a professor of the humanities at the College of Central Florida in Ocala.